Gender Equality In Government: The Case Of India – OpEd

By

Gender issues are issues that often occur in social life. Although efforts to overcome these issues have been made, they have not been completed. There are still many cases of gender inequality that occur in society with regard to the marginalization of women. The gap between women and men can be said to still be significantly unequal which is detrimental to one gender, specifically women, with limited access, participation, and control over sectors such as economic, social, health, education, and other strategic sectors.

The true development potential of a country cannot be realized if it does not fully and equally involve women in its efforts. The development approach is also an important factor in efforts to achieve gender equality in government. National development can be achieved if there is an increase in the quality of human resources. However, women’s participation in government is an age-old issue that has yet to find a solution.

Though not true for all women, women’s relationships tend to be characterized as expressive and tend to be good at forming social relationships or friendships compared to men. Meanwhile, men are characterized as instrumental or more task-oriented. Expressive bonds tend to be considered useless, in contrast to instrumental ones. With this, it can be seen that a high position in the organizational hierarchy is usually filled by a man.

This outdated perception that was formed by society is still held by society and continues to make it difficult for women to advance in government. Those women who happen to possess or have formed strong task-oriented and project management skills are still being seen as if they are the same as all other women, expressive and less valuable than a man. Sadly, it is still a stereo type that some male hiring managers firmly believe about nearly all women which affects their hiring decisions and makes it that much more challenging for a woman to prove that she has formed and does possess the specific skills required for the specific job she has chosen to apply for.

Marginalization of women does not just happen. It took many years until the idea was finally believed by the community, that women could not participate in the government because they did not have the soul of a leader. Culture is one of the factors that have a big role in the formation of this thought. Many cultures prioritize men over women so that women are subordinated. In fact, men and women are the same and have the same capacity.

Women are considered to have no self-confidence so they are less trusted to participate in the government and other formal political institutions. Not only in one country, but in almost all of the world, women feel that women are under-represented in national governments, including in decision-making process. Women feel that they are being intimidated intentionally in government, even in aspects such as politics, culture, public and society. Although each country has its own peculiarities in its own government, the issue of inequality and inconsistency in women’s participation still occurs.

The International Directory of Government provides information on the representation of women at the cabinet and sub-ministerial levels of all United Nations member states and other observer states, for a total of 187 countries. They then detail that the number of female ministers worldwide has more than doubled in the last decade, from 3.4% in 1996 to 6.8% in 2004. Sadly, in about 48 countries, there is no single female minister. In countries that have female ministers, most of them are concentrated on social issues (14%), when compared to legal issues (9.4%), politics (3.4%), economics (4.1%), and executives ( 3.9%). The top five countries that have a high female ministerial rate, around 30%, are Sweden, Seychelles, Finland, Barbados, and Liechtenstein. The participation of women in ministries in the Asian Region can be said to be small because it is not more than 5%.

A case study of gender inequality in government can be seen from the Indian government which actually rejects the involvement of women in politics. This issue becomes complicated when it is associated with culture. India is among the top five countries that harm women, coming in at fourth place according to the Tom Reuters Foundation. The assessment is based on indicators of health services, cultural traditions, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, discrimination, and human trafficking. Thus, India is a dangerous country for women with a sharp level of gender inequality. Culture is a northern factor that has taken root in the daily life of Indian society.

This is further emphasized by an expert from India who wrote a book entitled Ein Unglück ist die Tochter which means Unlucky Girls. For a long time, girls in India were looked down upon and seen as belongings to men. Women are considered unwise so only men are able to lead because of their wisdom. Women in India cannot form their own identity, they are only seen as a place to produce children. It is this cultural factor that makes it difficult for India to achieve gender equality because their beliefs and perceptions of women are deeply rooted within their culture, and thus even more widely accepted as truth no matter how realistically untrue this is.

Many cases of Foeticide, or the act of killing a fetus, occurs in India, especially after the widespread use of ultrasound technology. Researchers from The Lancet explain that more than 600 Indian women are missing due to Foeticide. If the fetus is known to be female, then the fetus must be aborted because the family prefers a boy. Boys are considered to be able to help their parents in religious practice and become a status symbol for their family.

The caste system in the social structure of Indian society increasingly marginalizes women. Castes that divide social classes not only differentiate social status but also provide more opportunities for high castes to oppress low castes. The Dalit caste is the lowest caste in the caste hierarchy in India. In this regard, Dalit women often accept sexual violence and cannot do much. Caste is also used as a shield, enabling them to escape the snares of the law.

India’s quality in government has declined drastically where India is in position 140 out of 156 countries based on the global gender gap report of the world economic forum in 2021, making India the third lowest country. There is a significant decline in female politicians affecting national progress. In 2019 only 23.1% of Ministers were female which declined even further in 2021 to a mere 9.1% of Ministers being female. Politics is considered the domain of men, not women.

The gender equality movement by women, known as feminism, is often understood as a women’s movement that seeks to fight men. The feminism movement itself is the prosecution of a group of women to get the same rights and authority as men. Women and men are the same, are at number one. Therefore, women cannot be secondary, and neither can men.

Being born as a woman does not mean one is weak and must always succumb to men in all aspects of life. Women also have to always believe in themselves and get rid of the idea that men should always be leaders. Instead of lowering themselves, women can actually become great campaigners, organizers, and movers because of their ability to communicate. Women can be effective agents of change, capable of providing important contributors to national development. The fear of women entering politics must be eliminated immediately, this is related to the human rights that each individual has regardless of gender and women’s status. The representation of women is irrefutably important for both normative and practical reasons.

The author’s argument regarding the issue of gender inequality in government is that gender inequality in government will not solve the problem; it will only add to the problem. Justice does not mean that the opportunities for men and women must be equal, namely 50% and 50%, but are adjusted to the existing needs and agreements in each country. The involvement of women in government is absolutely important so it takes a lot of women’s representatives in government.

In addition, there are differences in the way of thinking between men and women. Men tend to use logic in solving problems while women are more thorough and use their hearts in all of their thoughts. This difference becomes a problem if it is only dominated by one gender, but will complement each other when both genders have the right proportions. Problems faced by women will not be able to be resolved if only discussed by men, because the problems that are usually felt by women are complex and long-term so they require women’s participation in solving them.

Policies made by men will be masculine which has the potential to marginalize women, on the other hand, policies made by women can be detrimental if they are based on women’s ways of thinking. Therefore, these two genders should be able to complement each other so as to create the principles of well-balanced and powerfully effective governance.

Mahatma Gandhi said that “Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with women.”

Grace Inka Putri is studying as a final year student majoring in international relations at the Lampung University in Indonesia. The author has an interest in international issues, which relate to issues of gender, politics, economics, diplomacy, and human rights.

Grace Inka Putri

Grace Inka Putri is a freelance writer. She holds a Bachelor's degree in International Relations with a focus on Security and Peace Studies.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *